Broken Heroes | No Risk no fun!

When looking through the large windows of the Galerie Deschler, you'll see superman glancing back. Superman, the ultimate superhero of our times. If you look again, you'll notice that Superman isn't actually on his way through the window – he's smashed right into it. There's superman, hanging horizontally from a string, his head crushed into the glass, blood dripping down his wafting cape. All that's left is a flawless body.

Clark Kent's friends and enemies from cartoons, comic books and animated tv series aren't much better off. Spiederman seems to have gotten himself tangled up in his own spiderweb, and Sesame Street's Ernie is lying in a corner, drunk and unshaved, a panhandler. Then there's Spongebob Squarepants wearing a broad grin and a suicide vest – artist Patricia Waller has turned prominent children's cartoon characters into losers, good-for-nothings, irratic lunatics.

It may be disorienting, but the effect is more comical than truly threatening, which is exactly what Waller was going for when she singlehandedly crocheted her broken heroes. They represent strength, beauty and cheerfulness, illustrating Waller's protest against the contemporary celebrity and star cults in an attempt to break up stereotypes and shed a light on the downsides of fame.

The fact that it's not all fun and games should become apparent when stepping down the hall, where a raped Mini Mouse lies inmidst a pool of blood and a pill-popping Sandman hides under his covers.

(nas)